Submitted this comment a few weeks ago to USCCA but received no reply and no mention in the current issue. Hmmm… So I’ll present it here with openness to your opinions:
Reading your True Stories section in my monthly issues of Concealed Carry magazine, it occurs to me that, while informative and supportive of the right to carry, these incident reports paint an all-too-rosy picture for concealed carriers by omitting accounts of armed self-defense that “went south.” I believe it would be of immeasurable value toward fully informing your readers of the need to understand their legal limitations, as well as their rights, of armed self-defense. I strongly suggest that you help protect your readers and USCCA members from legal and financial nightmares through enhancement of their understanding of the law by relating the unfortunate incidents, explaining what went wrong and why, and the consequences thereof. Yes, I realize this issue is addressed here and there in your online training videos, but you would be adding tremendously toward that effort by adding such a column to your monthly magazine.
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interesting concept, but does that not already exist during almost every MSM news broadcast/printing?
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I think your point is valid. Here on the forum folks often bring up good, bad and in between incidents. The USCCA also does this with their Aftermath emails and posts. The bad and in between incidents are often more instructive than the good.
One argument for not focusing so much attention on the bad and questionable self defense incidents in the magazine is that the main stream media is constantly bombarding us with bad incidents and completely ignoring the good. This creates an anti self defense bias that does need to be counterbalanced by showing samples of the significantly higher percentage of self defense incidents that save lives.
I think the magazine does bring up the consequences of poor decisions from time to time but perhaps having a regular section spotlighting a negative event and how it may have been avoided would be valuable. Getting to learn from the experiences of others’, including the mistakes, is one of the main reasons I hang out here.
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I agree with this sentiment. Many folks who hold CCW permits believe the permit has deputized them in some manner empowering them to be auxiliary civilian law enforcement officers with arrest powers and some sort of enhanced power to use deadly force. A CCW permit, is, at the end of the day, just a piece of paper issued by a local government bureaucrat attesting that the holder has satisfied the state’s requirements permitting the holder to put a jacket or shirt over their firearm on their person.
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The “bad” is where we usually gain “experience.”
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Your comment is getting lots of thumbs up but it seems to miss the point, as others here recognize, that those MSM-type reports purely reflect an anti-gun bias, are non-instructive, and don’t approach it from the standpoint of “What mistake(s) was made (by the good guy) and how can it be avoided?” Big difference!
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I see the bad reports, some not really bad but stupid, lawless individuals shooting others. I never see in any news reports the ones I see reported here. I understand your suggestion if it is used to show what not to do for a licensed carrier.
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No point missed, was just a comment. I get a USCCA email periodically that does go through a self defense incident that points out the good, bad, and potential alternatives. Think it’s called Aftermath. You should subscribe to it.
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I believe we have to focus on the positive to fix the negative. There are too many thing that can go wrong in a self defense situation. Hopefully buy focusing on what we should do, we won’t do what we shouldn’t. If one knows what they or someone else is doing wrong it is ok to share.
If one focuses on doing something right they are eliminating a plethora of things that could go wrong.
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My Dad always said you learn more from your mistakes than your successes. When it comes to this topic, since failure can be so permanent, it’s good to learn as much as we can so we don’t duplicate someone else’s mistakes. I agree it needs to be presented right, and I believe it’s well within the ability of our writers and editors to get the point across in an educational manner that’s positive for all.
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I’ll add this, USCCA videos are a great supplement to the magazine. They give you an interesting take on various situations, what to do and what not to do. Add Attorney Tom Grieve’s videos you get a lot of the legal take on issues. I try to catch them all. Very informative and educational. I subscribed to both on You Tube.
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The mistakes are broadcast all over nationally as certain people and entities attempt to (create and) prove a ‘point’.
How many people have seen video (and how many times) of the guy in his car in FL legally carrying and claiming self defense when he shot all over through his windshield at another car? Does that really have to be published in the Concealed Carry Magazine for that to reach people as a “don’t do this”? I’d personally rather see a “this is what you should do” as well as example of “this was ruled justified and he is safe” examples (since a lot of publications and outlets will intentionally leave all of those out)
The guy in Florida, Glockton the name I think, who created an argument over someone parking in a handicap spot and then shot and killed the man who pushed him away from his wife/woman…how many know of that? Example what not to do. Those examples are everywhere, plenty of outlets are more than willing to share the bad.
The shot(s) to the back of the head execution in the restaurant, TX I think? Fake gun, robbery, self defense shoot turned murder-execution. I bet we’ve all seen that too. (don’t do that)
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I agree, the obvious examples such as you cite aren’t of any value in this context. But there are certainly many examples where the person involved in a SDS thought he was in the right but ended up on the wrong end of the law and paid dearly for it. There’s a huge grey area that people need clarification on through real case studies.
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I believe all three people in those scenarios believed they were in the right.
I have spoken to more than I would like online in various forums and contexts who believed all of those people were in the right.
They all claimed self defense and claimed they were in the right, did they not?
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…especially to those like me who rarely get slanted news from mainstream media.
I’d rather read a USCCA expert’s take on the negative event.
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That’s why I like the Active Self Protection Youtube channel. They show the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly of SD shootings, and why they were labelled as such. Some incidents shown are clearly not self-defense to any reasonable person, for example road rage incidents or drunken brawls within bars, but there are still lessons to be learned from them (like, get away from any road rager fast as you can, and leave the bar when a fight breaks out - or stay away from bars in the first place!)
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That is a fantastic channel. It’s real.
What I like most is it shows how fast things happen. And also the entire spectrum from nearly perfect to…that guy is going to prison for life to…well he died here is how you can try to not-die
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I would contact the Member Support and speak to someone that can directly answer your interrogatives. Because they are important, but you need direct answers, and where best to get them from? This is what I would suggest. It will help you and potentially help many, many others.
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I agree there would be much value in learning about what didn’t go right. Not the obvious stuff like road rage, etc., but incidents where on the surface and at first glance it may appear to be a lawful self defense, but there were nuanced and/or outright variables (statements for example) that turned the situation into illegal action. Many lessons to be learned for those of us who read the magazine from cover to cover each month.
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Welcome aboard sir! We are glad you are here.
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